A bill introduced in the Senate proposes that employment-based visas should be granted based on merit and skill requirements. The bill, the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment Act of 2022 (EAGLE Act), focuses on a skills-based approach for employment-based visas and supports the reduction of immigration backlogs by slowly eliminating the per-country cap over a nine-year period.

Companies struggle to fill open roles with qualifying candidates. By fixing the arbitrary caps at the country level, more individuals will be able to fill those needs. Currently, each foreign country is allowed a maximum of 7% of the annual allocated employment-based visas. The elimination of the per-country cap may drastically reduce the very long wait times of individuals from countries where there is high demand, including those from India and China. The per-country cap is outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). By removing the cap, the most qualified individuals to fill the roles most in demand will keep companies, and the economy, healthy.

In the last fiscal year, nearly 67,000 employment-based immigrant visas went unused. Although countries did have qualifying applicants, the annual cap limited their ability to use the visas and fill in-demand jobs. For temporary employment-based visa holders, an estimated 95% of them are still waiting for permanent work visas, although some have been in their roles for many years. The wait can be in the decades as permanent visa caps are also set at the country level.

In addition, the EAGLE Act gives individuals the ability to apply for a green card if they have been waiting in the backlog for two years or longer. However, the green card would need to be available in order to be granted. This change solely allows those individuals who have been in the backlog for two years or longer the ability to apply for a green card.

This is the latest bill introduced in both the House and the Senate in an effort to address the visa backlog.

In addition, the EAGLE Act suggests increasing the country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15% from the current 7%. Currently, the INA outlines an annual minimum family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000. In addition, the Act suggests that no more than 85% of available EB-2 and EB-3 visas can be granted to individuals from an individual country.

ILBSG continues to closely monitor ongoing proposals for changes in immigration policy. If you have questions about your immigration-related issue, contact us. We are with you through it all.